rstowe
10-12-2006, 08:16 AM
Friday, Oct 13th is the 1 year anniversary of us having to put our loved Rottie, Jacob down. For those of you who haven't heard this story here is what happened.
First, the backstory. I was in the Air Force and 1 month after we got married we moved to England (Jan 2000). My wife was going to be at home all day every day so we decided to get a dog. We found a shelter nearby and went. There was this huge purebred German Rottie just sitting in his kennel with the biggest eyes. We learned he was 1 year old and had been beaten and abused for his entire life. He had been locked in a shed with no windows or water for barking. One owner even broke his nose. He had been in and out of the shelter 5 times in his first year of life. No one knew how to handle him correctly, he was around 80 pounds. The kennel was either going to put him down or send him to work on a farm. I grew up with big dogs (all my dogs had been well over 100 pounds) and my wife had trained Handi-dogs; so the kennel decided we would be his last chance. After a week or so of interviews and home visits the kennel decided we would be a perfect fit. The first 6 months was tough. He was aggressive, especially if you showed any aggression towards him. My wife worked with him non-stop every day, giving him nothing but love and training. After a couple of months, we started to notice a change. He became the biggest baby! He would climb in your lap, lean up against you (anyone who has a dog over 100 pounds know this isn't fun) and sleep with us in our bed. He went from a dog who had no chance to our sweet baby Boo (Boo was his nickname) for the next 5 years, then it all happened.
On Sunday, Oct 9th 2005 we noticed Jacob wasn't eating, he was drinking a lot of water and he had an accident in the house (which he had never done in the 6 years we owned him). We figured he just wasn't feeling well and let it go at that. He didn't eat the next day either and was still drinking a lot of water. On Tuesday night, Oct 11th while we were eating dinner, we noticed he was shaking really bad. We took him to the emergency vet. She took blood and x-rays. His white blood cell count was really high and the x-rays didn't show much. The emergency vet said to take him to his normal vet the next day. She thought he might have been bitten by a tick or had a kidney infection (due to the increased thirst and high white blood cell count).
On Wednesday, Oct 12th we took him to his regular vet. She took more blood etc. They had him stay for the day and they gave him IV fluids and nourishment (he hadn't eaten since the previous Saturday). We took him home that night while we waited on the blood work to come back.
On Thursday, Oct 13th I took him back to the vet first thing in the morning to get more IVs and to wait for the blood work to come back. At around 9:30 that morning, the vet called back with the blood work results. She said his white blood cell count was even higher than it was on Tuesday and we should take him to the internal medicine vet to get an ultrasound done. My wife and I hurried to pick him up and get him to internal medicine.
The internal medicine vet, did an ultrasound. Our biggest fears were about to be realized. There was a tumor on his stomach the size of an orange. His breathing was shallow and ragged and he still hadn't eaten since the previous Saturday. The vet called a surgeon to see if they could get him in. She also explained what his life would be like after surgery and on chemo. She said he would probably only live for another year or so and because of the chemo, he would probably have to be carried outside and upstairs. The vet let us know that the surgeon would be able to get him in but he had bad news. Due to his condition (not breathing very well and very weak from not eating), he only gave him less than 50% chance to survive the surgery to remove the tumor let alone make it through the night. My wife and I spent the next couple of hours or so trying to make a decision.
At around 1:30 that afternoon, we had made the decision. We didn't want him to suffer anymore. We didn't want him to have to be carried everywhere (he weighed close to 150 pounds so that would be really uncomfortable for him). We told the vet our decision. She led us into a room that had several sofas and a nice area rug. They brought Jacob in. We laid on the floor with him for close to 2 hours saying goodbye. Around 3:15, we told the vet we were ready. The vet gave him the "shot", we said our final goodbye, gave him a kiss and walked out the door.
That was the toughest day of our life. We knew we made the right decision because we did it with what was best for him not for us; anything else would have been selfish on our part.
It is still tough; the pain has never really gone away. We have a memorial to him in our entertainment center, and next spring we're going to plant a memorial garden to him in our backyard.
Jacob, our sweet baby Boo - Mommy and Daddy miss you very much. We think about you everyday. You were our life and we cherish the life we had together even though it was only for 5 years.
Please click the link below to see his pictures and for a poem that has helped us a lot.
Cancer is a nasty thing and hopefully one day we'll be able to cure it not only in humans but in our beloved pets.
Thank you for listening to me tell the story of our beloved baby Boo.
First, the backstory. I was in the Air Force and 1 month after we got married we moved to England (Jan 2000). My wife was going to be at home all day every day so we decided to get a dog. We found a shelter nearby and went. There was this huge purebred German Rottie just sitting in his kennel with the biggest eyes. We learned he was 1 year old and had been beaten and abused for his entire life. He had been locked in a shed with no windows or water for barking. One owner even broke his nose. He had been in and out of the shelter 5 times in his first year of life. No one knew how to handle him correctly, he was around 80 pounds. The kennel was either going to put him down or send him to work on a farm. I grew up with big dogs (all my dogs had been well over 100 pounds) and my wife had trained Handi-dogs; so the kennel decided we would be his last chance. After a week or so of interviews and home visits the kennel decided we would be a perfect fit. The first 6 months was tough. He was aggressive, especially if you showed any aggression towards him. My wife worked with him non-stop every day, giving him nothing but love and training. After a couple of months, we started to notice a change. He became the biggest baby! He would climb in your lap, lean up against you (anyone who has a dog over 100 pounds know this isn't fun) and sleep with us in our bed. He went from a dog who had no chance to our sweet baby Boo (Boo was his nickname) for the next 5 years, then it all happened.
On Sunday, Oct 9th 2005 we noticed Jacob wasn't eating, he was drinking a lot of water and he had an accident in the house (which he had never done in the 6 years we owned him). We figured he just wasn't feeling well and let it go at that. He didn't eat the next day either and was still drinking a lot of water. On Tuesday night, Oct 11th while we were eating dinner, we noticed he was shaking really bad. We took him to the emergency vet. She took blood and x-rays. His white blood cell count was really high and the x-rays didn't show much. The emergency vet said to take him to his normal vet the next day. She thought he might have been bitten by a tick or had a kidney infection (due to the increased thirst and high white blood cell count).
On Wednesday, Oct 12th we took him to his regular vet. She took more blood etc. They had him stay for the day and they gave him IV fluids and nourishment (he hadn't eaten since the previous Saturday). We took him home that night while we waited on the blood work to come back.
On Thursday, Oct 13th I took him back to the vet first thing in the morning to get more IVs and to wait for the blood work to come back. At around 9:30 that morning, the vet called back with the blood work results. She said his white blood cell count was even higher than it was on Tuesday and we should take him to the internal medicine vet to get an ultrasound done. My wife and I hurried to pick him up and get him to internal medicine.
The internal medicine vet, did an ultrasound. Our biggest fears were about to be realized. There was a tumor on his stomach the size of an orange. His breathing was shallow and ragged and he still hadn't eaten since the previous Saturday. The vet called a surgeon to see if they could get him in. She also explained what his life would be like after surgery and on chemo. She said he would probably only live for another year or so and because of the chemo, he would probably have to be carried outside and upstairs. The vet let us know that the surgeon would be able to get him in but he had bad news. Due to his condition (not breathing very well and very weak from not eating), he only gave him less than 50% chance to survive the surgery to remove the tumor let alone make it through the night. My wife and I spent the next couple of hours or so trying to make a decision.
At around 1:30 that afternoon, we had made the decision. We didn't want him to suffer anymore. We didn't want him to have to be carried everywhere (he weighed close to 150 pounds so that would be really uncomfortable for him). We told the vet our decision. She led us into a room that had several sofas and a nice area rug. They brought Jacob in. We laid on the floor with him for close to 2 hours saying goodbye. Around 3:15, we told the vet we were ready. The vet gave him the "shot", we said our final goodbye, gave him a kiss and walked out the door.
That was the toughest day of our life. We knew we made the right decision because we did it with what was best for him not for us; anything else would have been selfish on our part.
It is still tough; the pain has never really gone away. We have a memorial to him in our entertainment center, and next spring we're going to plant a memorial garden to him in our backyard.
Jacob, our sweet baby Boo - Mommy and Daddy miss you very much. We think about you everyday. You were our life and we cherish the life we had together even though it was only for 5 years.
Please click the link below to see his pictures and for a poem that has helped us a lot.
Cancer is a nasty thing and hopefully one day we'll be able to cure it not only in humans but in our beloved pets.
Thank you for listening to me tell the story of our beloved baby Boo.